Cotton gin



v the bottoms of the saws.

are spaced sufliciently wide apart to permit hatente d Aug. l3, l fi.

UhillT- STTEES E. MITCHELL, OE ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

COTTON GIN.

Application filed August 8,1927. Serial No. 211,317.

The general object of this invention is to provide an improved cotton gin in wh ch provision is made for the more effective cleaning of the cotton and wlth less waste thereof than'is possible with the type of gin now commonly employed.

My improved gin embodies in its construction many of the essential elements of the modern huller gin of either the single or double'rib type. Such gin consists, essentially, of circular saws spaced apart and projecting through spaces between either one or two set-s of stationary ribs, according to the type of machine. In the double rib type of machine, one set of these ribs, lmown as the huller ribs, islocated near the peripheries of the saws and extends downwardly from the front of the roll box; The second set of ribs, known as ginning ribs, is located nearer the center of the saws and extends from the rear of the roll box through the spaces between the saws and down past The huller ribs the'passage of cotton seeds between them, but the width of these spaces is such as to prevent the passage through them of hulls carried up with the cotton by the saws. The ginning ribs are located in relatively close proximity to the sides of the respective saws to prevent the passage of seeds through the spaces between them. In practice, the huller ribs separate the major portion of the hulls and trash from the cotton, such hulls falling out of the machine, While the ginning ribs operate to separate the seeds from the cotton, which seeds travel downward over the surfaces of the ribs and fall out of the machine.

and seeds are discharged together.

In front of the ginning saws and extending the entire length of the saw cylinder, the gins of either of the types referred to have a spiked roller known as a picker roller, which rotates clockwise, or toward the saws.

While my improved girl would preferably embody in its construction the single set of huller ribs above referred to, it may equally well embody both huller ribs and ginning ribs in itsconstruction. In the latter case the operative combination of ing my invention.

In the interest of brevity of description, I will hereinafter use the'terin huller ribs as referring to the outer set of ribs where two sets of ribs are employed, or to the single set of ribs with huller members thereon where only one set of ribs is employed.

In operation, the cotton (or, if it has not been thoroughly cleaned, the cotton nixed with the hulls and trash) is fed into the breast of the gin where it falls down through the space between the roll box and the outer housing onto the picker roller referred to. This. roller throws the cotton against the teeth of the ginning saws, which carry it up and through the spaces between the huller ribs. These strip ofi most of the hulls, sticks, stems, etc. which may be mixed with the cotton. The hulls and trash separated in this manner fall down on the spikes of the picker roller. If these halls are not too large, or the amount too great, they can be discharged by the picker roller from the machine throu h the opening at the bottom of the breast of the gin without the necessity of having to resort to what is known in the trade as dumping the breast of the gin.

parts constitut- If the hullsare too large, however, or the 9 percentage of hulls and trash.too .great, they accumulate in the working space above the picker roller to such an extent that it is necessary to occasionally shut off the feedand discharge the accumulation. This not only causes loss of time in ginning, and the Waste of a great deal of cotton, dumped out with the hulls, but the accumulation of hulls and other foreign matter in the working space above the picker roller results in the sharp teeth of the gin saws constantly cutting or chipping pieces of the hulls and .sticks and carrying the same along with the cotton into the roll box, whereby the grade of the cotton is materially lowered owing to the admixture therewith of these small particles of foreign matter.

These picker rollers, however, are 1miversally used in huller gins and are'adjustable to and from the gin saws, so as to inhowever, only the huller ribs would enter crease or decrease the s ace between the teeth of the gin saws an the ends of the spikes of the picker roller. The purpose of t is adjustment is to enable the ginner to back the picker roller away from the gin saws to permit discharging more freely the hulls and trash when there is an excessive close enough to the ginning saws to avoid such waste of cotton, the hulls and trash are not discharged rapidly enough, and hence accumulate in the space above the picker: roller, necessitating the occasional dumping of the breast above referred to.

In addition to the impossibility of securing an ideal adjustment of the icker roller relative to the gin saws, anot er disadvantage inherent in the use' of the picker roller is, that as the spikes rotate in a direction toward the teeth of the gin saws, considerable chipping, cutting or barking of hulls and} stems results from the latter being forced or crowded by the spikes against the teeth of the saws, even when the percentage of such hulls and trash is not large.

In order to avoid the diiiiculties attending the use of a picker roller, and at the same time to provide means for efiectively separating the bulls and trash from the cotton and continuously removing the latter from the breast, or working chamber, ofthe gin, with a minimum waste of cotton, 1 dispense entirely with the use of the picker roller in my improved gin and substitute for the illustrated in my same certain elements of the cotton cleaning andreclaiming machine described and rior patent No. 1,613,242, dated January 4th, 1927, and notably, the reclaiming saw cylinder.

lln my present invention, I accomplish practically the same results in the use of reclaiming saws in connection with the modern cotton gin as characterized the use of the cotton cleaning machine of my patent referred to, the princi al difi'erences being p in the means employe for delivering the cotton and hulls to the ginning saws and in the use of the stationary huller ribs, in connection with the ginnin saws, for separating the hulls and trash from the cotton, instead of the kicker roll of said cotton cleaning machine.

In the accompanying drawing- The figure is a cross-sectional view of a gin constructed according to my invention and illustrating the essential elements of the latter, the gin shown being of the double rib type.

a cylinder.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates the casing of a gin, in which casing is provided a roll box 2 and a breast, or working chamber, 8 formed by one wall of the roll box and the front wall 5 of the casing. Depending from the rear side of the roll box 2 is a series of ginning ribs 6, and depending from the front wall of the roll box is a series of huller ribs 7. Mounted in suitable hearings in the end walls of the casing 1 is a gin saw cylinder, one of the saws thereof being indicated at 8. The above parts are of ordinary construction and are practically. standard in the modern type of double rib gin. To make the present invention clear, it may be further stated, however, that the huller ribs '2 are spaced at a sufficiently wide distance apart to permit the seeds to be drawn through the spaces between them by the gin saws while, at the same time, such spaces are narrow enough to preclude the passage of bulls, trash, and the like, which latter are thereby separated from the cotton as the lat ter is drawn through the spaces between the huller ribs b the saws, and are removed from the gin in a manner to be presently described. The ginning ribs 6 extend through the spaces between the 'saws and are located practically at the bottom of said spaces. Each pair of ribs is positioned in close proximity to tie sides of one of the gin saws so as to I'GVcIl'l) the seeds from bemg drawn throug the spaces between'these ribs as the cotton is carried through by the saws. As they are separated from the cotton, the seeds slide down the outer or front face of the ribs and fall out of the machine,

My invention consists, essentially, in combining with the construction of a single or double rib huller gin, novel means for delivering the mixed cotton and hulls to the gin saws and novel means co-operating with the gin saws for continuously removing the bulls and trash separated from the cotton by the huller ribs from the gin, and novel means for permitting such continuous removal of the hulls and trash with a minimum waste of cotton in the operation.

To this end, I provide at the bottom of the breast 3 a rotatable member 9, the purose of which is to deliver the mixed cotton and hulls to the gin saws. This member, in its preferred form, comprises a cylinder having a series of angle bars or ribs 10 secured about its periphery at suitable distances apart and extending longitudinally of the This member may be termed a feed roll. Below the feed roll 9, I rotatably mount in the end walls of the casing 1 a reclaiming saw cylinder 11 which, as in the less diameter than the gin saw cylinder. The gin saw cylinder may be rotated in any suitable way, as by means of a pulley 12 mounted on its shaft and driven by a belt (not shown) in the usual way. The feed roll 9 and the reclaiming saw cylinder 11 are driven from the shaft of the gin saw cylinder by conventional driving mechanism (not shown), which driving mechanism is preferably arranged to drive the feed roll in the same direction as the gin saw cylinder, but in all cases,,the reclaiming saw cylinder 11 is driven in a direction opposite to I {reclaiming saws.

clockwise direction.

that of the gin saw cylinder.- In other words, the gin saws are rotated in a clockwise direction and the reclaiming saws, in an anti- The respective directions of rotation of these parts is indicated by the arrows on the drawing. The reclaiming saws have two functions; one, to remove the hulls and trash from the space immediatel above them, constituting, in effect, the wor ing chamber of the gin, and the other to deliver cotton carried outof the working chamber to the gin saws 8. To facilitate the performance of these dual functions without the loss of cotton, 1 associate with the reclaiming saw cylinder, yielding means, the function of which is to cause the cotton to adhere to the teeth of the reclaiming saws by the saws, which will usually be in the form of small locks, will be caused to adhere to the teeth of the reclaiming saws as they pass underthe yielding means or brushes 13, while the pliability of such brushes or yielding means is such as to ermit the hulls and trash to pass under t em without being forced into engagement with the teeth of the Hence, suph hulls and trash will be continuously discharged by the reclaiming saws at a point beyond the yielding means 13. To prevent the tendency of the cotton passing beyond the yielding means 13 to be thrown by centrifugal force from the reclaiming saws, 1 preferably locate an angle bar 15 below the reclaiming saws, to extend throughout the length of the cylin der formed thereby, which bar is so positioned that it will tend to prevent any outward throw of the cotton from the teeth of the reclaiming saw cylinder.

In operation, the mixed cotton and hulls are fed into the space between the roll box and outer housing of the gin stand, where it falls into contact with and is engaged by the rotating feed roll 9. This feed roll can be so mounted and housed as topermit rotating it in the opposite direction from that shown by the arrow, tocause the lower portion of it to throw the cotton from the bottom over onto the ginning saws above the reclaiming saws. I refer, however, to rotate it in the direction shown. In either event, the cotton mixed with hulls is thrown by the feed roll into contact with the portion of the ginning saws extending through the spaces between the huller ribs 7 and is instantly engaged bythe teeth of the ginning saws and carried up through the spaces between these ribs, the spaces between them be, ing narrow enough to prevent the hulls, stems and other extraneous matter from going throu hv with the cotton and seeds.

The hu s and stems separated by the huller ribs 7 from the cotton fall down through the space between the ginning saws and the heaters 10 on the feed roll 9 onto the reclaiming saw cylinder 11. Since the upper half of the reclaiming saw cylin der is rotating away from the ginning saws, it is obvious that none of the hulls and trash can be again forced back into contact with the rapidly moving teeth of the ginning saws,'as occurs in the operation of the picker rollers universally employed in all other huller gins.

Any. small locks of cotton which might not be firmly-engaged by the teeth of the ginning saws and which become mixed with the bulls, stems, and other trash separated by the huller ribs, fall onto the reclaiming saw cylinder and are carried by the same around to the brush or yielding member 13,

which causes such locks of cotton to be firm ly engaged by the teeth of the reclaiming saws and to be carried around near enough to the teeth of the ginning saws so that the latter, which move at a much greater rate of speed thanthe teeth of the reclaiming saws, will dofi or remove all cotton adhering to the teeth of'the latter. The reclaiming saws may be in the same lane with the ginning saws, or, if preferre they may alternate in position with the ginning saws and project into the spaces between the latter. The important point of this arrangement is that the teeth of the reclaiming saws shall at all times rotate in such proximity to the teeth of the ginning saws that the latter will readily doif or remove the cotton from the former. The exact diameter of the reclaiming saws relative to the ginning saws is not important, although in all cases the reclaiming saws will have, as stated above, a much less diameter than that of the ginning saws. It is also important that the reclaiming saw cylinder shall have a surface speed of rotation considerably less ton was pulled from the plant.

than that of the ginning saw cylinder and shall rotate in a direction opposite to that of the ginning saw cylinder.

It will be readily seen that my arrangement differs from the ordinary huller gin, first, in the substitution of a reclaiming saw cylinder rotating-as to its upper half, in a direction away from the gin saws, for the picker roller rotating, as to its upper half, in a direction toward the gin saws; second, in the interposition of a rotary member, the feed roll 9, between the bottom of the breast 3 and the reclaiming saw cylind r for causing the mixed cotton and hulls to be thrown against the gin saws at a point above the reclaiming saw cylinder, whereas in the ordinary huller gin, the cotton and hulls fall down directly upon the picker roller; and, third, in the provision of the yielding memher or brush 13 for causing small locks of cotton, not engaged by the teeth of the gin saws, to be engaged by the teeth of the reclaiming saws and thereafter delivered by the reclaiming saws to the gin saws. It will also be seen, as compared with the cotton cleaning machine of my patent above referred to, that I utilize the stationary huller ribs 7 of the ordinary cotton gin for pre' .venting the hulls and trash from being carried around by the gin saws, in-place of the rotatable kicker roll 2 of said patent. Further, that in place of the hull-board 3 of the machine of said patent for causing the mixed cotton and hulls to move into contact.with the saw cylinder, I employ the rotatable member 9 having heaters 10, which acts to positively throw the cotton and hulls against the teeth of the gin saws.

In order that the'advantages of my improved gin may be better understood, it should be explained that in former times, the cotton delivered for ginning was usually much cleaner, than obtains at the present tnme, owing to the fact that/the cotton was all hand-picked, and practically only the cot- In more recent years, with the advent and general use of the cotton cleaning machine, the pickers will strip the bolls from the plant with thecotton, and all modern gins are equipped with cotton cleaning machines ahead of the gin to separate the bolls and trash from the cotton 'before the cotton is ginned. Still more recently, in certain sections, cotton is stripped from the plant by means of crude machines drawn over the ground, and such cotton, owing to the admixture therewith of a large portion of branches, twigs, hulls, and the like, is diflicult to clean thoroughly and the ginning of the cotton is still more difiicult. In fact, in some cases, the cotton delivered to the gin contains almost as great an admixture of hulls and trash as formerly obtained with cotton delivered to the cotton cleaning machine ahead of the gin. The advantages in the use of my improved gin, therefore, are far more pronounced where there is a relatively large percentage of hulls and trash contained in the cotton delivered to the breast of the gin, than where the cottonis relatively free from such admixture, as would be the case, for example, Where a cotton cleaning machine of the type disclosed in my patent above referred to is used ahead of the gin. Under all circumstances, however, niy improved gin possesses distinct advantages in operation over the present type of huller gin employing a picker roller, owing to the fact that whether the portion of hulls and trash mixed with the cotton be great or small, the reclaiming saw continuously'removes such hulls and trash from the gin saws and minimizes the barking and cutting thereof by the gin saws. At the same time, as above explained, all tendency of bulls and trash t accumulate in the, space above the reclaiming saws is prevented by reason of the fact tha the hulls and trash are continuously carried out of the breast by the reclaiming saws, and this isetfected with practically no waste whatever of cotton. It will be observed that the reclaiming saw cylinder has one portion operating in the clear with respect to the space adjacent the gin sav s, and hence that the removal and discharge of the bulls and trash from the working chamber of the gin is con;

tinuously and rapidly performed.

1 claim:

1. A cotton gin comprising, in combination with rotatable gin saws and stationary huller ribs through spaces between which latter a portion of the gin saws project, a rotatable member for feeding the raw cotton to the gin saws, and means for continuously removing hulls and trash, separated from the cotton by the co-action of the gin saws and huller ribs, and immediately and directly discharging same out of the machine com prising a reclaiming saw cylinder mounted to rotate in co-operative relation with, but in a direction opposite to that of said gin saws, the construction providing an uninterrupted space between said member and the reclaiming saw cylinder. I v

2. A cotton gin comprising, in. combination with rotatable gin saws and stationary huller ribs through spaces between which latter a portion of the gin saws project, a rotatable member for feeding the raw cotton to the gin saws, and means located below said feeding means for continuously removing hulls and trash, separated from the cotton by the co-action of the gin saws and huller ribs, and discharging same out of the machine comprising a reclaiming saw cylinder mounted to rotate in co-operative relation with, but in a direction opposite to that of said gin saws, and having a portion operating in the clear, the construction pro viding an uninterrupted space between said member and the reclaiming saw cylinder.

3. A cotton gin comprising, in combination with rotatable gin saws and stationary teeth of said gin saws, the construction providing an unmterrupted space between said member and the reclalming saw cylinder.

4. A cotton gin comprising, in combina;

tion with rotatable gin saws and stationary huller ribs through spaces between which latter a portion of the gin saws project, a rotatable member for feeding the raw cotton to the gin saws, and means for continuously removing hulls and trash, separated from the cotton 'by the co-action of the gin saws and huller ribs, and immediately and directly discharging same out of the machine and simultaneously returning cotton removed with such bulls and trash to a position to be engaged by the teeth of the gin saws comprising a reclaiming saw cylinder mounted torotate in a direction opposite to that of said gin saws and with the teeth of its saws located in close proximity to the teeth of the respective gin saws, the construction providing an unlnterrupted space. between said member and the reclaiming saw cylinder.

5. A. cotton gin comprising, in combination with rotatable gin saws and stationary huller ribs through spaces between which latter a portion of the gin saws project, rotatable means located below-the breast of the gin for delivering raw cotton fed into the breast to the surface of the gin saws, meansfor continuously removing hulls and trash,-

separated from the cotton by the co-action of said gin saws and huller ribs, and 'immediately and directly discharging same out of the machine and simultaneously returning cotton removed with the hulls and trash to a position to be engaged by the teeth of the gin saws, compris ng a reclaiming saw cylinder mounted to rotate in a direction opposite to that of said gin saws and with the teeth of its saws located in close proximity to the teeth of the respective gin saws, and a yielding member located in proximity to. the surface of said reclaiming saw cylinder for causing cotton carried under said yielding member by said saw-cylinder to adhere to the teeth of the saws thereof, the construction providing an uninterrupted space between said member and the reclaiming saw cylinder. 7 4 V In testimony whereof,- I have hereunto set my hand. i

J0 E. MITCHELL. p 

